Moonlighting
by Azuri-Chann
Summary: Estelle's done it again and now a very reluctant Yuri is stuck with the job of babysitting a bunch of deranged kids. What did he do to deserve this...? Post-Game. Title may change.


A/N: This is just a little idea I had for a short multi-chapter fic. I might not have a lot of time to update, but I thought it'd be fun to give it a go! And also...I just couldn't resist. The story is set post-game so there _will_ be spoilers. Just a heads up.

Disclaimer: I'm an amateur fanfiction writer, of course I don't own Tales of Vesperia or any of the awesome characters from the game!

* * *

Chapter One

"Yuri! Yuri! Yuri! Yuri!"

The black-haired man flinched as he regarded the platoon of enthusiastic children chanting his name from opposite sides of the wooden nursery tables and chairs where they were meant to be seated at— not jumping to the beat of their own high pitched voices.

"Remind me again why you dragged me from the inn and all the way over here?" Yuri droned, gracing his companion beside him with an expression clearly showing that he was pushed into this predicament against his will. Which was true, sad to say.

It had been scarcely a year since the defeat of the Adephagos and the world, now without threat, still gripped to settle with the idea of living without blastia. With the Princess's help, the Knights- the Flynn Brigade to be exact- was still caught up with the minor tasks of dealing with the council members and the few stubborn civilians.

The overall hype had successfully been lulled but even through the aftermath of relief and its soon following complications, Yuri still found himself being roped into situations he planned no involvement in...

"The orphanage needed help after the staff got ill with the flu, and I offered assistance on behalf of Brave Vesperia." Estelle explained to him, smiling at the animated children. They were truly excited that one of the saviours of the world was here in person. She felt glad, and Yuri could see it in her optimistic expression and the glisten in her eyes.

It was good to see Estelle happy again. After the drama that surpassed some months ago, he remembered her saddened expression when the colourful group of unlikely companions had to separate. Though when Karol said that the friends of Brave Vesperia could tag along when it suited them, Estelle's expression had brightened at the idea of being able to see them again.

Rita may have looked indifferent, but everyone knew she was just as glad. The brunette outwardly flustered, hiding a very obvious blush, when the calm and collected Krytian commented that she had no need to worry since Ba'ul and her would be sure to pay regular visits to Aspio.

As for the Old Man, he wasn't in an exact destination and still popped up every now and then when everyone least expected it. Old habits die hard, Yuri assumed.

"I still don't get how the staff got sick with the same flu and called out at the same time, sounds suspiciously convenient if you ask me..." Yuri mused, frowning when his thoughts drifted on the nice relaxing day he had planned out for himself on this rare day that the guild had no jobs lined up.

He crossed his arms and gave the colourful nursery room a thorough look-over, glancing at a crumpled sock and a toothbrush sticking out from somewhere underneath the table. With the staff out, Yuri noted that the orphanage was in a state of disarray. The nursery looked worse than Rita's hut. And that's as explanative as it could get.

"Yuri..." Estelle sighed at his unimpressed remark, pouting slightly. "Think of it as an extra job for Brave Vesperia. Because Judith is already out with Ba'ul, the only one left for the job is you. And the children love the idea! I'll even compensate after the work is done!"

Half paying attention to Estelle's ramble when she got into manager-mode, as Karol had dubbed, Yuri watched as the owner of the orphanage scuttled in pushing a trolley where bowls of custard were stacked orderly. The short and fairly plump woman had auburn hair pulled back and wore a plain dress. Her drab eyes and the flush on her cheeks showed exhaustion as she placed a few spoons down, scolding a curious boy who almost dipped his head right into the custard when he peered into the bowl.

The custard was a treat for the kids, in other words, a distraction to get them quieted before Yuri assumed his role, which he was still attempting to opt out of by the way.

"Don't you need to talk to Captain Karol before arranging jobs for us?" he asked.

Estelle turned her head to look at the tactless dark-haired man. "Oh, Karol? He agreed it was just what you needed for today, instead of passing time on sleep," she informed him, with a small nod of head as her words carried her point across.

Surprised that they nailed his plans spot on, Yuri smirked, crossing his arms. "What? I deserve it after dealing with the Union the other day," he stated in his defense.

"Though that problem is resolved now that Flynn went to see Harry."

"Judy would make a better babysitter than me..."

"But Judith is not here, now is she?" Estelle subtly countered with a knowing look.

He held her stare for a moment, weighing up his options which seemed to be lessening drastically by the minute. As usual, Estelle had an answer to everything. She was no longer the same naïve princess...but was now a discreetly manipulative naïve princess.

Yuri smiled grimly before a thought occurred. "And what's the Boss doing?" he voiced the question evenly.

"I'm making sure you don't slack, Yuri!" On cue, the twelve year old appeared from behind the doorway, grinning broadly as he strutted toward the two.

Breaking him out of his authoritative stance, Yuri strode over and slung his arms over the twelve-year in a headlock before giving the young boss a good old-fashioned noogie.

"Yuri!" the preteen grumbled and reverted the children's attention, which had momentarily gotten preoccupied, back to the dark-haired man.

"Yuri! Yuri! Yuri! Yuri! Yuri!"

Wiping her hands off the front of her skirt, the owner approached after clearing up the scattered toys on the carpeted floor in the corner of the room. "Settle down, children!" She turned to Yuri with a thankful expression. "Thank you so much for volunteering to help, you have no idea how grateful I am."

Yuri opened his mouth, starting with an unhurried "Well..." but the woman shifted her attention to Estelle.

"Your Highness, I mean, Estelle, I'm ready when you are," she said, gesturing towards the door behind her.

Estelle nodded and then turned to Yuri who quirked his eyebrows at this. "I'll be helping Ancilla tend to her garden," she explained before looking at the beaming children. "Enjoy yourselves!"

They paused, cheered in response, and then went back to their squabbling. Estelle smiled softly, putting a hand on Yuri's shoulder. "You'll be just fine." With a reassuring nod goodbye, and good luck, she followed behind the owner and left him standing there in the midst of a quarrel which broke out just then between the brown-haired twins.

"I guess that's that," Yuri said with a sigh. He looked at the two kids arguing amongst each other about which spoon belonged to who, almost on the verge of clawing one another. Agh, as if which spoon really even mattered!

Receiving an encouraging thump on his back, Yuri shifted his gaze to a grinning Karol. "You better get to work, then. I'll pop in a little later to see how you're doing."

With that said, Karol thumbed up and then made his escape before the dark-haired man could oppose.

"Hey...!" Yuri stopped himself from yelling after the young guild boss and groaned inwardly, wondering why he told Repede to wait at the inn. At least if Repede came along he would have had someone with him for...heck...moral support.

"Heh, c'mon, it's not that big a deal," he told himself drily as he glanced over the children, his eyes settling on a boy who was busy prodding a girl with a spoon full of spit while she whimpered and hopelessly told him to cut it out.

Yes, this busted his plans for the day, but...minding these children couldn't be that hard, right? All they generally did was eat, play, and sleep. Sort of like a pet. No big deal.

He shook his head with a half-grin. "They're just kids, what's the worst that could happen?"

A young girl scooped up her bowl, dissatisfied that her custard was fewer than her friend's. On her way to the door, the brunette tripped over a fold in the rug and the inevitable happened.

With his lips clamped shut in a grimace, Yuri cast his gaze down to look at the steaming hot puddle of yellow dripping on the front of his dark pants. After a brief moment of silence taken to blink in surprise or stifle their chuckles, a wave of laughter erupted from the children and spread around the room at the man doubled over in pain.

Even though he knew Estelle's intentions were good, Yuri couldn't help but cuss through clenched teeth: "Damn it, Estelle!"

Meanwhile, the pink-haired princess was kneeling in the back garden with a watering-can held over the lilies and daffodils she intended to water. Their soft petals were beginning to wilt at the edges, all because they haven't been getting the proper amount of water.

After convincing the Council (with the helpful input of Ioder) to allow her some time to travel before returning to her minor duties as a royal, Estelle had come to meet the orphanage's fretful owner. She happend to bump into the woman during a walk she had taken to study the coastal environment of Torim Harbour for references for a new book she was working on. However, her return to the capital was due soon and she had no proper experience with children so she wasn't sure if she could do anything to help, but luckily Brave Vesperia happened to be in the area after completing some business with Kaufman. Estelle had believed it to be a stroke of luck!

Tucking a wisp of pink hair behind her ear, she smiled, feeling content that she could find a way to assist the orphanage with their problems.

"Would you like a glass of orange juice before moving on to the vegetable garden?" asked Ancilla, her voice breaking the pink-haired out of her reflective daze.

Looking over her shoulder to answer, Estelle sneezed in reply, causing a stream of water to gush out of the watering-can and onto the unsuspecting flowers.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, it's quite short, heheh. Um...please review/critic? :]


End file.
